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texas sheet cake recipe

Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings: 18 Servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups  all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups  granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon  salt
  • 1/2 cup  sour cream
  • 2 large  eggs
  • 1 cup  unsalted butter
  • 1 cup  water
  • 1/4 cup  unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon  baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon  vanilla extract

For the Icing:

  • 1/2 cup  unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup  unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup  milk
  • 3 1/2 cups  powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon  vanilla extract

Method
 

  1. Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and greasing a 13×18-inch sheet pan
  2. In a big mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Don’t overthink it, just give it a quick stir to break up clumps.
  3. Next, grab a saucepan and melt the butter with water and cocoa powder over medium heat. Once it’s melted and bubbling just a bit, pour that hot mixture right into the dry ingredients and mix it up.
  4. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and stir in the sour cream, baking soda, and vanilla. Then add that to the main batter and mix until it’s smooth and glossy.
  5. Pour it into your greased pan, spread it evenly, and bake it for about 18–20 minutes.  Keep an eye on it — when a toothpick comes out clean, you’re good.
  6. In the same saucepan you used earlier melt the butter, cocoa, and milk over medium heat. Stir it until smooth, then remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. 
  7. If it looks too thick to pour, add a splash more milk. If you’re using pecans, stir them in now
  8. The second the cake comes out of the oven, pour that warm icing all over the top. Use a spatula to spread it around quickly before it sets.
  9. You can eat it warm, and a lot of people do. But if you let it cool completely, it sets up into this soft, tender slab of chocolate heaven with a slightly crackly top.

Notes

Use real butter. Margarine won’t give you the same richness. Also, make sure your cocoa powder’s unsweetened — if it’s Dutch-processed or super dark, it might taste a little different, but that’s not a dealbreaker. And don’t skip the sour cream. It makes the cake super moist and balances the sweet with a tiny bit of tang.